2 PILOTS MISSING IN GULF OF MEXICO

The Navy and Coast Guard searched the Gulf of Mexico Tuesday for two missing pilots whose planes collided while on training missions from the carrier USS Lexington.

The in-flight collision of the two TA-4 Skyhawks occurred at 4 p.m. Monday about 85 miles northwest of Key West, said Lt. Cmdr. Ray Kempisty, spokesman for Naval Education and Training in Pensacola, where the carrier is based. The names of the pilots were not released pending notification of kin.One of the planes was found after the crash but the other was missing, Kempisty said. The two pilots, the only occupants of the aircraft, were on "routine" training missions.

It was not known whether the pilots ejected before the planes hit the water, Kempisty said.